bike culture blogged

Today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Ford announced an update to their Smart Mobility programs that includes ebikes for personal and business use. These are last mile solutions to address congestion and the eventuality of cities filling up with too many cars. The idea is that you get close to the city and then ride in and continue your journey multi modally by van, bus, or train. The cargo service addresses the same congestion problem with a van and a delivery bike. Both personal and business use are enabled by an app. The bikes are built by Dahon and both are interesting concepts. As I’ve said about this segment of the market, if the bike industry can’t figure out how to sell ebikes in the US, then car companies will and combine them with fleet management or share systems.

The MoDe:Me e-bike – built with the help of bicycle manufacturer Dahon – is intended for urban commuters to keep moving in congested city traffic. It folds and stows easily, allowing commuters to park on the city outskirts, take the e-bike onto public transport and travel to the centre, then ride the e-bike to their destination

The MoDe:Pro e-bike – built by a Ford team – is intended for urban commercial use such as by couriers, electricians, and goods and delivery services. It is designed to stow safely into commercial vehicles such as Transit Connect, which can act as carrier and support vehicle, and be combined with more than one e-bike

The prototype app for both bikes is called MoDe:Link and compatible with the iPhone 6, as shown in the video.

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My bike media colleague, Carlton Reid has set out to Kickstart another book and this one is about the Bike Boom AND how to make it boomier. I’ll let him tell you about it in this video and later, when he visits Seattle, we’re gonna ride that chroma key bike lane together.

A certain lightness was needed, a comedic break in this crazy F’d up world (including the impending UCI doping report) and it finally happened with the Internets blowing up over a couple of escaped Llamas. We had some fun with the story too, with Carlton Reid’s help… a little bit of viralness, just a bit with the Llamas.

The inside joke here was, just prior I had said aloud in the office “maybe we should talk more about infrastructure and bike lanes.” Well, hey we did for a day! Also joked about the new bike lanes in Seattle that are so green, they look like chroma key screens weather reporters use. They painted it so day glo, like a little red carpet for bikes in green, to attract cyclists and be distinctive. Before it was painted, if you took a right off of Dexter onto Mercer, it looked like another lane of traffic for cars.

And that’s enough about lanes, what I said in the original tweet Carlton responded to about SXSW was true. Being part of the community in 15 AND the year of the bike. We switched up what we do too –– like suddenly we’re dismounting and remounting on the LEFT side of the bike –– to advocacy this year from corporate events with Microsoft, Google, and the like in past years.

A casual, social meet-up for Cyclocross riders from across the country to get together and discuss dirt, #svenness, and cool bikes. Everyone will be able to discuss what Cyclocross is like in their specific area of the world and what they have done to grow the sport. Optional CX ride after the meet-up to Mckinney Falls State Park.

Enjoy a daily commute, joy ride with friends, #NewKitDay or year-round racing? Join fellow badass female cyclists and the men who support us. What has traditionally been known as a male-dominated sport is slowing seeing a rise in attendance and appreciation from women. It’s about time. Led by SXSW Interactive Publicist and cyclist, Kelly Krause, this Meet Up is for those with a passion for bikes and getting more women on them.

The face of urban bicycling is in a rapid rate of change. From better apparel to constantly improving bike lanes, more and more people are taking to the streets on two wheels. Join this diverse panel featuring perspectives from all over bike culture for a discussion on how urban bicycling goes from fringe to fashion.

Come talk about the latest in cycling technology from road racing wonderbikes, to advanced suspension design, to e-bikes built for the super commuter. See the latest from some of the tech firms working on cycling accessories and talk with like-minded folks about the future of all aspects of cycling, racing to commuting, smart bikes to mountain bikes, and more.

In an age where consumer brands are racing to establish a digital storefront to replace their expensive physical locations, Rapha and Design Within Reach are going about it the old fashioned way. Building community and relationships with the consumer is paramount. Online content, mobile applications, and social media are best used to supplement these real world relationships and experiences.

Having spent a career making interesting content on the independent web, since the beginning, no matter where you are in the process of pursuing your dreams in interactive, Byron trod the path before you and will help you tackle the next steps.

At Create, in the space where bikes and tech meet, we’ll greet filmmakers, city planners, and advocates. After that we’ll ride to watch the world premier of the film Bikes vs. Cars at Republic Square Park.

Bikes vs Cars depicts a global crisis we must talk about: Climate, earth’s resources, cities where the surface is consumed by cars. The bike is a great tool for change, but the interests who gain from cars invest billions each year on lobby and ads to protect their business.

That’s amazing in itself AND for our 9th annual Mobile Social we’ve refocused to advocacy and the world premier of the film Bikes vs Cars.

The ride and meetup starts at 3:30 on 3/15 and then we’ll ride to the movie at Republic Square Park. RSVP now on Facebook or G+.